Computer Vision News - July 2016

Eleanor: I kind of just gravitated toward it to be honest. I started just doing a general Computer Science degree, and I quite liked programming. I worked for a year and a half in the web development space, and then decided I wanted to study further for more of an expertise in my area so I went back to do my Masters. One of the papers included computer vision and just seemed really interesting; really interesting problems that had a lot of overlap with different domains that you could apply to the medical field... or you could apply to vehicle technology. There were just infinite possibilities. So I thought it would be a cool career pathway. CVPR Daily: Is it more difficult for a woman scientist than for a man? And why? Eleanor: Well, I think I’m quite early in my career so I don’t really feel too much of a difference, so I do not really have any stories to tell, not yet anyway! Quite a few of the female engineers from my work go to some gender diversity seminars, and a lot of the talks are interesting. I can see why it could eventually be hard for a woman because as you climb up the ladder there’s fewer and fewer women. I guess you have less and less female companions. At the moment, I think I find it pretty OK. My work is very supportive. CVPR Daily: Who has been your best teacher? Eleanor: Probably my Masters and Honors supervisor, Dr. Andrew Ensor He works in the Accelerated Computing and computer vision domains, and gave great guidance throughout my study. CVPR Daily: Can I ask you what you would like to achieve? Eleanor: You mean career-wise? I guess, like I said, I’m fairly new to the field. I’ve only done my Masters, and it was an overlap between Accelerated Computing and computer vision. I would like more expertise in computer vision. It seems like a really interesting field. I would like to specialize in it and go for that. CVPR Daily: What chances do you give yourself to succeed? Eleanor: I hope I will succeed! But, yea, I don’t know if I can put a number on it. CVPR Daily: Thursday “ I can see why it could eventually be hard for a woman because as you climb up the ladder there’s fewer and fewer women ” Women in Computer Vision 11 BEST OF CVPR DAILY: UNPUBLISHED